Published on January 13, 2006

Kasikornbank aims to be number one in small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans in the next three years, knocking from its perch the current market leader, Bangkok Bank.

Boontuck Wungcharoen, executive vice president of Kasikornbank, said the bank has set an SME loan-growth target for this year of 16 per cent, an increase of Bt40 billion. Over the next three years, the bank aims to boost its market share to 30 per cent, he said.

Kasikornbank now holds a 24-per cent share of the SME-loan market, behind Bangkok Bank, with 27 per cent. Krung Thai Bank is ranked number three with a share of 16 per cent.

Last year the bank made Bt39.8 billion in new SME loans, up 15 per cent from 2004.

The bank currently has Bt309.3 billion worth of SME loans on its books – 50 per cent of its loan portfolio.

BankThai, meanwhile, has set an aggressive goal of growing its retail loan base 70 per cent this year. The bank aims to make new consumer loans worth Bt5 billion this year, increasing its outstanding retail loans to Bt12 billion by the end of the year. Around 75 per cent of the bank’s new lending this year would be personal loans and the remainder would be home loans.

The bank’s core strategy to boost its consumer loan portfolio mainly through direct sales, said Tada Charukitpaisarn, executive vice president of BankThai.

The bank has 2,000 marketing agents and has no plans to hire more.

Somruedi Banchongduang

The Nation

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